The article examines the competitiveness of Ukrainian banks influenced by economy digitalization, the dynamic spread of electronic payments and e-commerce, as well as innovative technologies aimed at providing digital services. When shifting to an Online Platform business model, a bank can expand its range of banking products, attract more customers, thereby forming a competition policy and gaining competitive advantages. The paper aims to assess the digitalization level affecting the general competitiveness of banks and its components based on Ukrainian banks. For this purpose, the following methods were used: standardized input statistical indicators, comparison and ranking, a cluster analysis, and a regression and correlation analysis. The cluster analysis confirmed the current role of digitalization as a competition driver that determines the competitive advantages of banks and creates additional opportunities to expand the customer base and the range of services. The correlation and regression dependence of the competitive position identified by the activity indicators of certain banks on the level of competitive digitalization confirmed a close direct impact on the competitive position of personal deposits arising from the development of digital banking technology; the pre-tax income, profiles of assets and personal loans, and corporate deposits are subject to a significant direct impact, while the weakest direct impact determines corporate loans. The foregoing substantiates the feasibility of large-scale introduction of innovative digital technologies by banks to maintain competitive positions in the banking sector of the economy. Applying the proposed approach based on certain regression equations, managers of Ukrainian banks will be able to assess the efficiency and make appropriate decisions concerning investing in digital tools and services.

The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated the operating environment for banks around the world. Determining the drivers of digitalization of banking services based on the principles of corporate social responsibility of banks makes it possible to find a way out of the crisis. The objective of the study is to develop a model for clustering banks in terms of the level of digitalization on the principles of corporate social responsibility.In this study, a twofold model has been proposed: the first part includes the calculation of the level of digitalization of banking, and the second part includes mathematical simulation of the clustering of bank digitalization level. This study reveals new possible solutions to the digitalization of banking in the face of new threats. In particular, factor analysis identifies the main factors, cluster analysis ranks banks into three categories (A, B, C) of service digitalization, and a dendrogram identifies digitalization drivers. The model was tested on 22 banks. Eight per cent of the banks are rated A “Very good” and B “Good”. 92% have Level C “Satisfactory”. The results of the study prove that the model should be validated. It should be confirmed that the application of the developed methodology for increasing the digitalization of banking services will increase customer loyalty by 15%, improve sustainability by reducing risk by 10%, and make banks attractive for investment by 15-20%.

The russian aggression against Ukraine underscores the need to reassess regional strategies for digitalization and inclusivity. The study aims to identify strategies for enhancing these areas during wartime. Taxonomy and cluster and factor analysis methods have shown that regions with a higher level of digitalization have lower levels of poverty and unemployment. Specifically, regions in the top quartile of the digitalization index reported, on average, 12% lower unemployment rates compared to those in the bottom quartile. The analysis identifies distinct regional groupings: areas such as Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk are partially occupied and exhibiting low digitalization and inclusivity, in contrast with Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad that show moderate progress. Rural regions face a significant digital divide, with only 60% of rural households having stable internet access compared to 90% in urban areas. Factor analysis confirms that wartime conditions have accelerated digital transformation, evidenced by a 42% increase in Diia app usage from 2021 to 2023 and a rise in internet penetration from 62% in 2019 to 78% in 2023. Additionally, IT sector export revenues grew by 20% in 2022, and technology startups doubled between 2019 and 2023. The study proposes a strategic framework for regional adaptation: intensive digitalization and inclusivity for Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions; digitalization for Mykolaiv region; inclusivity for Kirovohrad and Zakarpattia regions; and balanced adaptation for Chernivtsi and Khmelnytskyi regions. Recommended measures include modernizing digital infrastructure, expanding educational opportunities, supporting startups, and aligning digital and social initiatives to foster regional resilience and development.

The development of public-private partnership in Ukraine in recent years has become very important as an instrument of anti-crisis orientation. The real economic situation objectively creates the preconditions for more effective use of this mechanism and institutes of public-private partnerships in order to ensure sustainable economic development, obtain new ones and improve the quality of public services provided to the population.The objective of the research is to identify the components of project finance risk management and to provide justification of effective and balanced sharing of risks between public and private partners as the prerequisite and the main principle of effective implementation of public-private partnership.The authors used the following research methods: systemic approach, theoretical and empirical methods of scientific knowledge.This paper examines types of investment project financing by banks based on public-private partnership. It defines the structure of public-private partnership according to sources of capital investment in the project vehicle. The paper identifies components of the risk management process in project finance. It proves that a balanced distribution of risks between the private and public partners is the key requirement and the primary principle of effective public-private partnership. In this way, the need for mobilization of additional financial resources for implementation of investment projects calls for extended cooperation of state agencies and banks as a part of the effort of economic crisis management.

The ambitious goals of environmental sustainability stated in international agreements and national programs require developing strategies to achieve them. At the same time, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the environmental performance factors, which can be purposefully changed to achieve an effective result in the short and medium-term. The paper aims to find the institutional factors of national environmental performance, including financial ones, which might be effectively used as environmental sustainability management tools. For this, the relationships between the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), as the dependent variable, and the indicators of control of corruption, the effectiveness of an anti-monopoly policy, financial opportunities, undue influence, corporate culture, innovation output, GDP, and income growth among the poorest population, using a sample of 81 countries, and the technique for constructing nonlinear regression models based on the normalizing transformations for non-Gaussian data were studied.The study findings show that environmental performance can be predicted with sufficient accuracy by a linear model of its dependence on corruption control, minority shareholders protection, judicial independence, favoritism in decisions of government officials, tax incentives, ease of access to loans, and innovation output. Adding GDP per capita to the explanatory variables of the EPI model does not significantly affect the result accuracy but changes the model shape from linear to nonlinear. The paper substantiates ways to apply results for institutional reforms and sustainability management, such as inflation targeting, public credit guarantee schemes, performance-based loans, etc.

According to the stages of the banking system stability monitoring, the analysis of caus¬al links is used to identify the causes of the crisis trends spreading and the rationale for the most effective levers of regulatory influence on the banking system parameters by the central bank.The research is based on the use of the canonical correlation method for structuring causal links between the indicators for the assessment of the banking system stability, which are grouped into four sub-indices (assessing the intensity of credit and financial interaction in the interbank market, the effectiveness of the banking system functions, structural changes and financial disproportions in the banking system, activities of systemically important banks); the method of regression analysis and the calculation of elasticity coefficients is also used to assess the sensitivity of the banking system stability to changes in parameters that characterize the banking regulation instruments.The article analyzes the results of quantitative and qualitative assessment of the banking system stability (comparison of actual results of the evaluation with the data for previous years and comparison of values of stability indicators with critical values). The causes of detected deviations are determined taking into account the results of applying the canonical correlations method. Regression models have been constructed to confirm the dependence of the banking system stability index on the change in parameters that characterize banking regulation instruments, and to determine the most effective of them. Practical testing of submitted proposals is realized based on the Ukrainian banking system indicators for 2007–2016.